FI-815913

This was the last official of the week and it's a new unesco card. I really aprreciate when people lose sometime to check my unesco wishlist.

This is an official from Finland but the card is from Sweden and it shows the Skogskyrkogården cenitery in Stockholm.

FI-815913, sent by Sini "saint".

"Skogskyrkogården (translated as The Woodland Cemetery) is a cemetery located in the Enskededalen district south of central Stockholm, Sweden. Its design reflects the development of architecture from national romantic style to mature functionalism.

Skogskyrkogården came about following an international competition in 1915 for the design of a new cemetery in Enskede, Stockholm. The design of the young architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerents was selected. Work began in 1917 on land that had been old gravel quarries that were overgrown with pine trees and was completed three years later. The architects' use of the natural landscape created an extraordinary environment of tranquil beauty that had a profound influence on cemetery design throughout the world.

The crematorium, with its remarkable Faith, Hope, and Holy Cross Chapels was Gunnar Asplund's final work of architecture, opened shortly before his passing in 1940. In 1994, Skogskyrkogården was named a Unesco World Heritage Site and although it does not have the number of famous interments as the Norra begravningsplatsen, its much older counterpart in northern Stockholm, it is a major tourist attraction. At the Tallum Pavilion, visitors can see an exhibition about the cemetery and the story of its origins and the two architects whose vision created it." - in: wikipedia

May Overflow VIII

Another postcard week will start tomorrow, hopefully with more May Overflow cards. These 2 are the last of the week.

From Carly "bunnylover", from UK.

And from Erja "erjamariit" from Finland.
Thease cards are like a complement of each other. I guess i could find a cute squirrel like this one in the wood of 1st card.

May Overflow VII

Cards from Santa Monica, USA sent by Katie "katielucie" and Riva del Garda in Itália sent by Johanna "marnie" from Finland.

"The Santa Monica Pier is located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent, 100-year-old landmark.
The pier contains Pacific Park, a family amusement park with a large Ferris wheel. It also has a carousel from the 1920s, an aquarium, shops, entertainers, an arcade, a trapeze school, a pub, and restaurants. The end of the pier is a popular location for anglers.

Santa Monica has had several piers over the years, however the current Santa Monica Pier is actually two adjoining piers that long had separate owners. The long, narrow Municipal Pier opened 9 September 1909, primarily to carry sewer pipes beyond the breakers, and had no amenities. The short, wide adjoining Pleasure Pier to the south, a.k.a. Newcomb Pier, was built in 1916 by Charles I.D. Looff and his son Arthur, amusement park pioneers." - in: wikipedia

Riva del Garda is a town of 15,246 inhabitants in the province of Trento, Italy, located at the north-western corner of Lake Garda.

The card shows the Rocca Fort built following an agreement in the 12th century between Altemanno and the townspeople of Riva del Garda. The Austrians renovated it in 1852. It houses the Civic Museum with archeological, geological and mineralogical exhibits, an art gallery, and collections of weapons, prints and rare books.

May Overflow VI

I'm posting these cards together because all of them are new unesco cards in my collection. Thank you Andy "duplevista" from UK and Melissa "onecraftymumma" from Australia for sending me these great cards.

"The group of Neolithic monuments on Orkney consists of a large chambered tomb (Maes Howe), two ceremonial stone circles (the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar) and a settlement (Skara Brae), together with a number of unexcavated burial, ceremonial and settlement sites. The group constitutes a major prehistoric cultural landscape which gives a graphic depiction of life in this remote archipelago in the far north of Scotland some 5,000 years ago." - in: www.whc.unesco.org/en/list/514

"In a region that has been subjected to severe glaciation, these parks and reserves, with their steep gorges, covering an area of over 1 million ha, constitute one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world. Remains found in limestone caves attest to the human occupation of the area for more than 20,000 years." - in: www.whc.unesco.org/en/list/181

May Overflow V

Two lovely church cards. Thanks Arja "aryah" from Finland and Natalia "daarhon" from Russia.

I've other cards with Helsinki's cathedral but this is probably my favorite. I like the snow, the statue and love the street lamp. By the way, the statue is the statue of Emperor Alexander II. It was erected in 1894 to commemorate his re-establishing the Diet of Finland in 1863, and initiating several reforms increasing Finland's autonomy from Russia. The statue comprises Alexander on a pedestal surrounded by figures representing the law (Lex), Light (Lux), Work (Labour), Peace (Pax).

This is also a great card, russian churches are fantastic.

"The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is also variously called the Church on Spilt Blood and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, its official name. The name refers to the blood of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who was assassinated on that site in 1881.
Construction began in 1883 under Alexander III, as a memorial to his father, Alexander II. Work progressed slowly and was finally completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors. It took nearly a quarter of a century to complete.
Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism." - in: wikipedia

May Overflow IV

I really can't complain about the cards i've been receiving. This has been a great RR so far.

These 2 cards are from Estonia and Germany. The 1st one was sent by Rita "sirelid" and the 2nd by Gabriela "gabis".

This multiview card shows castles and medieval houses from different places in Estonia. Ruins of the medieval castle in Viljandi; Three Sisters Hotel in Tallinn; Vastseliina Stonecastle and Koluveren Castle.

A german card from Hiddensee, "a carfree island in the Baltic Sea, located west of Rügen on the German coast.

The island, located 54°33' north longitude 13°07' east, has about 1,300 inhabitants. It was a popular vacation destination for East German tourists during GDR times and continues to attract tourists today with its natural beauty.
An urban legend during the GDR days says that, in order to escape the hardships of communist rule, the workers and farmers of Hiddensee wrote a letter to Stalin requesting to be annexed by Sweden (Hiddensee belonged to Swedish Pommerania 1648-1815). Of course that did not happen, but it reflects the typical humor of people in the GDR.

The island has at least another lighthouse, but this one on the card is the Gellen lighthouse, built in 1905.

May Overflow III

Cards from the USA, California, Vermont.

"Cardiff-by-the-Sea, usually referred to as Cardiff, is a beach community located between Encinitas and Solana Beach, in San Diego County, California.In 1911, this former farming community began to develop Cardiff, when developer J. Frank Cullen broke ground to build new homes. It is reported by the Cardiff Chamber of Commerce that it was Frank Cullen's wife, a native of Cardiff, Wales, who persuaded him to name the community, "Cardiff." Many streets in Cardiff bear names this English-born landowner grew up with in his native UK. The names of, "Birmingham," "Oxford," "Chesterfield" and "Manchester" are major streets in this city." - in: wikipedia

"St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic church, is located at the crest of Prospect Street, Newport, Vermont overlooking Lake Memphremagog.

Excavation for the church began in 1903. The cornerstone was laid in 1904.

From the quarries in and around Newport, came granite stones some of them 33 inches thick. The church is romanesque in style. The interior paintings, scenes from the Old and New Testaments, were recreated by N.O. Rochon, a local artist, with the permission of the French artist Tissaud.
Resting at the highest point of the peninsula of Newport, the church with its twin spires, gold crosses and statue of the Virgin Mary was formally dedicated August 1, 1909." - in: wikipedia

May Overflow II

These 2 are from China and Japan. The 1st card was sent by Gao and the 2nd by Moegi "marumo".

The new Beijing Poly Plaza building in Beijing, incorporates 24 stories of office space built around a 90-meter-tall atrium enclosed by the world’s largest cable-net-supported glass wall. The museum occupancy is contained in an eight-story hanging ‘lantern’ suspended in the building atrium from four parallel strand bridge cables.

"Oze is a 25,000 hectare tract of north-eastern Japan that until summer of 2007 made up part of the gargantuan Nikko National Park. Oze sprawls across parts of no less than three prefectures: Gunma, Niigata and Fukushima.

This is Japan’s largest area of highland marsh, and is renowned for its vistas of wild flowers and majestic mountain scenery. Oze is a spectacular example of what beauty nature can produce with fire and brimstone. Lava from an eruption of nearby Mt. Hiuchigatake dammed the Tadamigawa River creating the marshlands, which Kita Tadamigawa is still the prime source of water for.

The plethora of streams here provides much of Tokyo’s energy requirements, no less than 70% of the land in the park being owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Nikko National Park, of which Oze was a part, came into being in 1934 as Japan’s fourth largest. In 2005, it was included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands being an international convention adopted in 1971).

In summer of 2007 Oze was formally detached from Nikko National Park and given the status of a new park: Japan’s twenty-ninth.

Nikko is one of Japan’s busiest tourist areas, and the rationale behind this move is to reduce the tourism impact on Oze and nurture it as a true natural reserve."- in: http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=357&pID=1408

May Overflow I

This month i decided to join a monthly RR. The original May RR was too much for me so i've joined the May Overflow RR, better for those who want to send a more modest amount of cards. So far, this RR has 23 participants and i've already received 14 cards.

These 2 are from Netherlands.

This lovely landscape was sent by Tessa "bouncy". I love the color and the sun between the trees.

Marleen "marleen79" sent this great card with the Amsterdam Royal Palace.

"The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is situated on Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam. It was originally built as the city hall for the magistrates of Amsterdam. In the 17-th century it was the largest secular building of Europe.

The Royal Palace on the Dam is one of the three Palaces which the State has placed at the Queen's disposal by Act of Parliament. It is used mainly for official state functions, for example state visits, the Queen's New Year reception and other official receptions. Every year, it provides the setting for the presentation of various official and royal prizes." - in: http://www.amsterdam.info/sights/royal_palace/

Pope Benedict’s Visited Portugal

I wasn't expecting for this card. It was sent by Dúlio "luso" as a thank you for the meetings cards he've received. I've a few cards from Fátima but didn't have this with the old basilica and the new church.

Dúlio used, on the front, a new stamp to commemorate the Pope's visit to Portugal lask week.

Pope Benedict's trip to Portugal, from May 11 to May 14, 2010, included visits to the cities of Lisbon, Fátima and Porto.

The highlight of the trip was the visit to Fatima. Fátima is famous for the shrine called the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, built to commemorate the events of 1917 when three little shepherds claimed to have seen the "Virgin of the Rosary", Our Lady of Fátima. Since then the town attracts a large number of Catholics, and every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the significant dates of Fatima apparitions.

The Pope’s visit was timed to coincide not only with the first of the annual pilgrimages, but with the 10th anniversary of the beatification of the shepherd children Francisco and Jacinta, and the fifth anniversary of the death of Sister Lucia. She was the third of the children, and later became a nun.

This was Pope Benedict's first visit to Portugal.

Luxor Temple - Egypt

This postcard was on my favorite album. Farah "feefs" tagged me in one of the "favorites" tags and her card arrived this week. So, the card shows the colossal head of Ramesses II in the Luxor Temple.

"Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was founded in 1400 B.C.E.

The earliest parts of the temple still standing are the barque chapels, just behind the first pylon. They were built by Hatshepsut, and appropriated by Tuthmosis III. The main part of the temple - the colonnade and the sun court were built by Amenhotep III, and a later addition by Rameses II, who built the entrance pylon, and the two obelisks (one of which was taken to France, and is now at the centre of the Place de la Concorde) linked the Hatshepsut buildings with the main temple.

"Ramesses II was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as Egypt's greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh. His successors and later Egyptians called him the "Great Ancestor".

He was born around 1303 BC and at age fourteen, Ramesses was appointed Prince Regent by his father SEti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his early 20s and to have ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC for a total of 66 years and 2 months, according to Manetho. On his death, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings; his body was later moved to a royal cache where it was discovered in 1881, and is now on display in the Cairo Museum." - in: wikipedia

Georgetown - Malaysia

Not so long ago, Relie sent me a card from Japan, now she sent this one from Georgetown, Malaysia. She knows i collect unesco cards, that's why she sent me this card. The inner city of GeorgeTown together with Malacca, is a Unesco World Heritage Site, since 2008. I already have a card from Malacca, now i've cards from both towns.

The card shows the Kuan Yin Temple, also called the Goddess of Mercy Temple. This was the "first temple ever built in Georgetown, Penang, by Chinese settlers.The temple honours Kuan Yin, a devout Buddhist who was said to have attained the coveted state of Nirvana but had chosen, instead to remain on earth in order to provide guidance and help to those who are themselves striving to reach Nirvana. The temple interior is usually filled with the scent of sandalwood incense, burnt by devotees who visit the temple to pray and seek guidance from Kuan Yin.

"The temple also honours Ma Chor Poh, the patron saint of seafarers who was highly regarded by the Chinese settlers, many of whom had travelled great distances, crossing the seas from China to Penang.
The Kuan Yin Temple was built in the 1800s by early Chinese settlers of the Hokkien and Cantonese communities. The temple was originally named Kong Hock Keong temple (Cantonese-Hokkien Temple) and was once used not only for religious but also for social functions within the Chinese community, until the current Chinese Town Hall was constructed in the 1880's." - in: http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/destination/George%20Town.html

Kyz-Kala - Turkemenistan

Claus once sent me a Turkemenistan's unesco card, that was good enough for me. Now he

surprised me even more sending another unesco card from Turkemenistan, but this time written and stamped from there :D

The card shows the Greater Kyz-Kala, included on the site "State Historical and Cultural Park Ancient Merv".

"The Greater Kyz.Kala is an isolated building known as koshk, which has distinctive corrugated exterior walls. The Greater Kyz Kala is rectangular in plan, with a length of 45m and width of 38m. Its corrugations are well preserved on the eastern and southern sides of the building, protected against the prevailing wind. The interior of the building preserves squinches and traces of different kinds of vaulting.

'Kyz Kala" means 'Girls' Castle': one story runs that forty girls hid in the Greater Kyz Kala at the time of the Mongol invasion. When they saw what the Mongols had done to the inhabitants of the city of Merv they committed suicide by jumping from the roof. Another local tale identifies the Greater Kyz Kala as the castle for the girls; its smaller neighbour as the boys' castle. It is said that young men wishing 10 marry the girl of their dreams should fire a projectile from the southern castle, to land in the northern one. Given the distance between the two, there are presumably many local bachelors.
The buildings were elite rural residences, and probably date from the 8th or 9th centuries. There remains much debate about the purpose of their distinctive corrugations: theories include helping to keep the interiors cool, ensuring the rapid run-off of potentially destructive rainwater, and simple decoration.

Nobody seems to know for certain why these walls are 'corrugated' in this way. Was it a system of drainage - was it purely decorative? Kyz-kala is one of the most intact ruins in Merv. It's hard to believe that at the height of its fame in the 10-11th century, this pile of ruined brick walls rivaled the great Islamic centers of learning such as Baghdad and Cairo." -in: http://turkmen.traveler.uz/component/content/article/44-turkmen-monuments/210-Kyz-Kala

»NEW« TRAVELLING RR - Group 86 * Churches

I didn't even remember that i've joined this group. The envelope had cards from Brazil and Germany, i've just picked german cards.

"Berlin Cathedral is situated on the Spreeisland and is a protestant cathedral built on the model of St.Peters Dome in Rome. The today's church bulding with the massive dome was built from 1894 - 1905. He was erected by Julius Raschdorff on a request of Emperor Wilhelm II. to be the main church of Prussian Protestantism.

The cathedral had been built in the style of the italian High -Rennaissance at the beginning of Baroque and it had been the biggest protestant main building in Germany. The monumental dome was a symbol for the young, united Germany. During the 2nd World War the building was devastately damaged and since 1975 the cathedral is in the state of reconstruction." - in: http://www.ferienwohnung-zimmer-berlin.de/Tourismus_Berlin/berliner_dom_en.htm

"Ellwangen Abbey was the earliest Benedictine monastery established in what is now Baden-Württemberg, in Ellwangen about 60 miles / 100 km north-east of Stuttgart.

It was founded by Hariolfus, Bishop of Langres, in about 764, although there is some evidence that it may have been as early as 732.

The Benedictine occupation of the abbey came to an end in the first half of the fifteenth century. In 1460 it was changed into a college of secular canons under the rule of a provost.

Nothing is known of Ellwangen's property during the period of its Benedictine history, but in the 18th century, after it had passed into the hands of the secular canons.

Most of the ecclesiastical buildings still exist, though they are no longer used for religious purposes. In the secularisation of 1802 the abbey was dissolved and its assets taken over by the Duchy of Württemberg." - in: wikipedia

"The cathedral built under the first Bishop Erkanbert in 803 was a simple ‘Saalkirche’ (hall church) without any towers constructed on the cathedral hill. Later the minimal edifice was replaced by a 3-aisle long-house with an eastern transept, a choir and most likely an exterior crypt. The final shape of the cathedral was achieved with the added western transept completed around 1350. The cathedral stood mostly unchanged for over 600 years until it was almost totally destroyed during the bombing of Minden on March 28, 1945!
Among the most impressive features of the Minden Cathedral are its tracery windows. The
intricate stonemasonry of the 6 windows in the nave is one of the high points of European sacral architecture.
The destruction of a church is always an attack of hope. It was thus the order of the day to proceed quickly with reconstruction and the work came to its first closure with the re-consecration in 1957. Although several style-adjusting corrections were carried out, the present-day cathedral was initially conceived as a replica of the 1270/90 Gothic Hall Church.
Because of lack of funds the cathedral is now missing one crossing tower that had been part of the appearance of the cathedral and the city from 1270 until 1945.
In the last few years the wish for the missing crossing tower has become louder favouring a Gothic tower like the one that stood in the olden days." - in: http://di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=71&Action=1&NewsId=63325&currentPage=9

FI-805137

FI-805137, sent by Stig.

Sipoo in finnish or Sibbo in swedish is a municipality of Finland. It is the eastern neighbour of Helsinki and is located in the province of Southern Finland.

The once almost completely Swedish speaking municipality is since 1953 bilingual, a majority being Finnish speakers since 2003, due to migration from other parts of Finland. Today the Finnish speaking majority stands for ca 60% and the Swedish speaking minority for about 39% of the population.

RO-13191

This is my first official card from Romania and at the same time a new unesco card in my collection, the Danube Delta.

RO-13191, sent by Daniela.

"The Danube Delta is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Romania (Tulcea county), while its northern part, on the left bank of the Chilia arm, is situated in Ukraine (Odessa Oblast). The approximate surface is 4152 km², of which 3446 km² are in Romania. If the lagoons of Razim-Sinoe (1015 km² of which 865 km² water surface; situated in the south, but attached to the Danube Delta from geological and ecological perspectives, as well as being the combined territory of the World Heritage Site) are to be added, the considered area of the Danube Delta grows to 5165 km².

The Danube Delta falls within east European steppe ecosystem, with Mediterranean influences. As a young region in full process of consolidation, the Danube Delta represents a very favourable place for the development of highly diverse flora and fauna, unique in Europe, with numerous rare species. It hosts 23 natural ecosystems, but due to the extent of wetlands the aquatic environment is prevalent; the terrestrial environment is also present on the higher grounds of the continental levees, where xerophile ecosystems have developed. Between the aquatic and terrestrial environments, is interposed a swampy, easily flooded strip of original flora and fauna, with means of adaptation for water or land, depending on the season or the hydrological regime. At the contact between freshwater and sea water, some special physical, chemical and biological processes take place, which determined biologists to consider this area as a very different ecosystem called beforedelta. Musura Gulf, north of Sulina, and Saint George Gulf are considered the most representative for this type of ecosystem.

Situated on major migratory routes, and providing adequate conditions for nesting and hatching, the Danube Delta is a magnet for birds from six major eco-regions of the world, including the Mongolian, Arctic and Siberian. There are over 320 species of birds found in the delta during summer, of which 166 are hatching species and 159 are migratory. Over one million individuals (swans, wild ducks, bald coots, etc.) winter here." - in: wikipedia

Travelling Envelope - Group 6, Portugal

This was a special group in the Travelling Envelope RR on the portuguese community, only with portuguese participants. I took these 3 cards from the envelope.

A pink gazebo in Pombal.

This one is from Estoril.

And a card from Lisbon with some city's landmarks.